New Delhi:

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said today it is difficult to put a limit on the India-US relationship, and that the two countries now see each other as “desirable, optimal, and comfortable partners.”

Addressing an Indian community event in Washington DC, Mr Jaishankar said, “I am often asked, where do you think this relationship (India-US) is going…now it’s hard for me today, really, to put a limit on it, to define it, to even voice expectations, because in every way this relationship has exceeded expectations, which is why today we don’t even try to define it. We actually keep raising the bar.”

Mr Jaishankar held meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, senior members of the US Administration, US business leaders, and think tank experts this week. The External Affairs Minister said that India and the United States have a “very compelling need” to work together and that it is in Washington’s interest to have partners who think and speak well of America.

Speaking to the community in Washington D.C. pic.twitter.com/p2Vtk6pG2X

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) October 1, 2023

“We keep finding new domains, the more we do with each other, the more we find we are able to do, explore together, and achieve together,” he added.

READ |“Must Talk To Each Other To Resolve Issue”: S Jaishankar Amid Row With Canada

“In this changing world, I would say, today, India and the United States have moved to a position where we really see each other as very desirable, optimal partners, comfortable partners, with whom it’s a natural instinct today. So, the chemistry and the comfort today of the relationship gives me enormous hope about where the prospects are,” he added.

Mr Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington recently, amid the diplomatic row with Canada over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil in June this year.

READ | “Let’s Not Normalise What’s Happening In Canada”: S Jaishankar

The foreign minister rejected Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s allegation that Indian government agents were involved in Nijjar’s killing, saying it was “inconsistent with India’s policy.”

Mr Blinken expressed deep concern over Mr Trudeau’s allegations, saying that the US is urging the Indian government to cooperate with the investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Mr Jaishankar also met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday for a productive discussion on deepening bilateral defence cooperation between India and the US, including the co-production of defence articles. 

India is “temporarily unable to process visa applications” from Canada because of “security threats faced by our High Commissions and Consulates” in that country, the government said Thursday afternoon, as hostilities escalate over accusations that “agents of New Delhi” killed a Khalistani terrorist and Canadian national – Hardeep Singh Nijjar – on Canadian soil. 

The Foreign Ministry statement comes hours after BLS International – a private agency hired for initial scrutiny of visa requests – cited “operational reasons” to suspend services till further notice.

“You are aware of the security threats being faced by our High Commissions and Consulates in Canada… this has disrupted their normal functioning. Accordingly, our High Commissions and Consulates are temporarily unable to process visa applications,” Arindam Bagchi, the ministry spokesperson, told reporters. “We will be reviewing the situation on a regular basis.”

The Indian government has also suspended issue of electronic visas, Mr Bagchi added, stressing that the issue is about “discrimination in how visas are granted by the Canadian side”.

READ |Indian Visas For Canadians Suspended Amid Row: “Operational Reasons”

“All categories of visas are suspended. Issue not about travel to India… those who have valid visas (issued before this suspension order) are (cleared) to travel to India. The issue is the creation of an environment that disrupts functioning of our consulates and high commission,” he said.

Mr Bagchi dismissed claims Indian “agents” had killed Nijjar and called them “politically driven”. He pointed out that “no specific information” had been shared by Ottawa on the alleged killing.

READ | “Allegations By Canada Politically Driven”: India Amid Diplomatic Row

“We are willing to look at specific information if provided… from our side, we have very specific information on particular individuals in Canada and all these have been shared with them.”

“But Canada hasn’t acted on them,” he said.

On India expelling a senior diplomat – after Canada ordered a top Research and Analysis Wing official to leave its borders – Mr Bagchi said the other side had been asked to downsize its diplomatic presence in India citing “interference of Canadian diplomats in Indian affairs”.

READ |In Tit-For-Tat Move, India Asks Canada Diplomat To Leave Within 5 Days

“Canadian diplomatic presence in India is larger than what India has (in Canada)… accordingly needs to be downsized. There should be parity, their numbers are much higher,” Mr Bagchi said.

READ | “Interference In Our Affairs”: India Wants Reduction In Canada Diplomats

Apart from each side ejecting one official, India and Canada also traded adverse travel advisories. 

Canada updated its India advisory this week to mirror that of the United States and it explicitly mentions Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, warning of “violent clashes between militants and security forces in the former” and “ethnic tensions” leading to “conflict and civil unrest”in the latter.

READ | Canada Rejects India’s Travel Advisory Amid Escalating Diplomatic Row

And, on Wednesday, shortly after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met PM Modi in the new Parliament building, India advised its citizens in Canada, and those contemplating travelling, to exercise “utmost caution” in view of anti-India activities and “politically-condoned” hate crimes.

Nijjar, 45, was shot dead outside a gurdwara in Canada’s British Columbia in June. Hailing from Punjab’s Jalandhar, he was chief of the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and one of India’s most wanted terrorists. There was a Rs 10 lakh reward for his capture or information leading to his arrest.

India-Canada ties were already tense after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conversation with Canada’s Justin Trudeau at the G20 Summit in Delhi this month. The PM expressed India’s “strong concerns about continuing anti-India activities” in that country.